SYENSQO – Open Factories LAB

Open Factories LAB: the Spinetta Marengo chemical hub in dialogue with the community

https://youtu.be/UDAW8lH52V0

In 2022 the Open Factories format brought a thousand people to the Syensqo (then Solvay) plant in Spinetta Marengo, in an event designed to share with all citizens the results achieved and ongoing projects (here’s the story: https://www.amapola.it/project/solvay-fabbriche-aperte-2022/). To give continuity to the initiative, Syensqo for 2023 co-designed together with Amapola a new cycle of thematic meetings aimed at the local community and dedicated to the themes of social responsibility and sustainable development: Open Factories LAB. The doors of the chemical plant thus reopened to territorial stakeholders with the objective of making productions, reference markets, technologies used, innovation and environmental protection projects better known, but above all else making visitors interact with the people who give life to the plant with their passion and skills.

The journey in detail

From April to October 2023, 5 meetings were organized within the plant. Each included a guided tour by shuttle to plants, departments or areas of the facility, followed by a listening and dialogue workshop. The workshops were facilitated with the help of a professional facilitator. Employees were involved as tutors and guides, also participating in conducting the workshops, after following specific training. The journey concluded with a final feedback event, where the initiative results were presented and future developments were announced. The cycle of meetings was designed to favor the emergence of ideas and project insights from the community, which can be evaluated by the company as initiatives to develop in collaboration.

The Amapola project

The journey was a strategic opportunity for listening, communication and relationships aimed at internal and external stakeholders: in the first case engaging people, sharing objectives, projects, results and company strategy, cultivating a sense of belonging; in the second favoring dialogue with the territory, highlighting the value created and shared, growing the sense of transparency in telling corporate projects. Amapola supported Syensqo with its consultancy to devise, organize and communicate the “Lab”, supporting the plant management in the project direction and in managing the various components of strategy, organization, facilitation and communication. For better laboratory management, expert facilitation training was implemented dedicated to the plant people who were involved in meetings and visits. The training was conducted with specialized techniques by certified professional facilitators. Amapola also handled the content and key messages of the meetings, working side by side with the company, as well as the visual identity of the initiative and all communication materials (informational flyers, posters, invitations, digital cards, declinations for advertising and editorial inserts). To tell the initiative in detail and make it live beyond the direct experience, Amapola also handled the Logbook for the company, a publication that retraces the entire year of Open Factories LAB. In the booklet it is possible to find the contents addressed step by step, images of the meetings and voices of the participants. Similarly, the video reportage of the feedback event captures the entire journey through the testimonies of those who took part in the various stages: employees, managers but also citizens and reference figures from the local community.

https://youtu.be/BYGc_l20Mzo